Self-training idler



Oct. 4, 1938. R. c. SOLLENBERGER ET AL 2,132,053

SELF TRAINING IDLER Filed May 7, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Lee 0 CCUroZL, mm M mwfiflaga Oct- 4, 1938- R. C.-SOLLENBERGER ET AL 2,132,053

SELF TRAINING IDLER Filed ma 7, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 '///////////1 m I Q i Patented Oct. 4, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE SELF- TRAINING IDLER poration of Indiana Application May 7, 1936, Serial No. 78,342

20 Claims.

This invention pertains to belt conveyors and more particularly to training idlers which are employed to maintain the belt in a centered position on the idler by counteracting tendencies of the belt toward displacement from its normal path of travel.

One of the primary purposes of our invention is to provide an idler which will obviate all wear on the edges of the belt by eliminating all parts which might impose any friction on said edges and employing only frictionless devices with which the belt may contact.

Another purpose is to obtain a maximum training effort of the idler upon the belt and to make this training effort positive in its action.

A further purpose is to provide an idler which will be simple in construction, durable and effective in operation and one which will be devoid of springs, weights, or other non-positive operating 20 parts.

For the purpose of exemplifying the principles of our invention, one preferred embodiment thereof is shown for illustrative purposes upon the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an idler embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is an end View;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view through one of the training rolls and its mountings;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view ofone of the guide rolls; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View showing the guide roll bearing.

In the drawings, the numeral I designates a belt, shown as a troughed conveyer belt, which travels in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, and is supported and trained by the illustrative idler embodying our invention. Belt-supporting rolls of the idler are designated in the drawings by the numerals 8, 9 and II. The end rolls 9 and II are independently movably mounted training rolls, which under control of the traveling belt are automatically skewable in unison to train the belt to centered position on the idler. While these training rolls are shown arranged in inclined position, so as to serve as troughing rolls as well as training rolls, it should be understood that their training function is not dependent upon having them so arranged, except as an incident to supporting the oppositely inclined side portions of a troughed conveyer belt, and that the invention may be embodied in a non-troughing idler or one having the rolls disposed horizontally to the belt.

In the specific construction shown in the drawings, the intermediate roll 8 is supported upon the fixed standards I2 and I3 which also support the inner ends of the training rolls 9 and II, respectively, the outer ends of these. latter rolls being supported by movable standards I4 and I5, respectively. All of these standards are carried upon a base It supported in any suitable manner, the movable standards for the outer ends of the training rolls being pivotally mounted on this base through the intermediary of fixed standard bases I I upon which'the standards are pivoted by pintles i8. Swinging movement of each standard about its pintle is limited by abutment of the lower face of the standard with the elevated stops I9 and ZI projecting upwardly from the standard base I l, as will be apparent from Fig. 3.

All of the rolls 8, 9, and II are freely rotatable so as to offer no resistance to the travel of the belt supported and guided thereby. While these rolls maybe supported in any suitable manner, we have shown in Fig. 4 for illustrative purposes the mountings for two of the rolls. From this figure it will be observed that a stub shaft 22 is centrally supported in the stationary standard I3 and secured against displacement by a pin or bolt 23. The ends of this shaft, which are substantially ball shaped, project into cup-shaped socket members 2 6 each forming the inner raceway of a ball bearing 25, the outer raceway of which is formed by a ring 26 seated in the hub 21 of the roll. Since the inner race member 24 is capable of limited oscillatory movement upon the stub shaft 22, it will be manifest that the training roll II may be oscillated a limited amount about the stub shaft ball end as the center of oscillation. V

The outer end of each training roll is supported through a similar socket member 28 and ball bearing upon the inner end of a stub shaft 29 which is fixedly held by a bolt 3i in the upper end of the standard I5. As this standard is swung backwardly or forwardly about its pintle I8 the outer end of the training roll'is correspondingly moved in the direction'of travel of the belt or reversely thereto, as the case may be, thereby angling the roll with respect to the be t to cause the belt to return to its normal path of travel.

Each of the training rolls is moved in the manner above indicated by a lever which is influenced and actuated by lateral displacement of the belt on the idler. Each of the standards I4 and I5,

provide a fiat support for as will be apparent from Figs. 1 and 4, is provided on its outer face with a socket 32 for the reception of the ball-shaped end of a lever arm 33 forming one arm of a bell crank lever which is I fulcrumed upon an upright post 34 mounted in an ear 35 projecting from the standard base H. The other arm 36 of each bell crank extends forwardly and inwardly toward the path of travel of the belt and at its inner end is equipped with a guide roll 31 disposed in proximity to the edge of the belt when traveling in its normal path. From Figs. 5 and 6 it will be apparent that each of these rolls is freely rotatable so as to offer no resistance to or impose any friction upon the edge of the belt when it is brought into contact therewith. With this end in view each roll 31 is mounted upon a spindle 38 rising from the lever arm 36, the mounting being rendered frictionless by the employment of ball bearings, preferably of the sealed type, comprising an inner race 39, an outer race 4!, balls 42, and sealing means indicated generally by reference character 43.

The inner ends of the lever arms 36 are connected by a drag link 44 including a turnbuckle '45 by means of which the length of the link may be adjusted. This adjustment is provided for the purpose of affording provision for regulating the normal position'of the training rolls with respect to each other and to the belt. For instance, by manipulation of this adjustment the axes of the training rolls may be positioned'in a common vertical plane with the supporting roll, or cambered slightly to correspond with the camber of the nomtraining idlers of the conveyer system, or cambered to any degree suitable for the production of a tendency for the traveling belt to maintain a centered position on the idler.

The operation of an idler constructed in accordance with the principles of our invention is substantially as follows:

The guide rolls 3! being set a fraction of an inch from the edges of the belt when properly centered and the training rolls being slightly cambered as above explained, the belt should normally' travel without contacting either of the guide rolls 31. 'The tiltable standards l4 and i5 carrying the outer ends of the training rolls 9 and II tend to remain in their normal or erect positions, under the action of the traveling belt on the two training rolls, due to the operative connections between said standards provided by the levers 36 and link 44 connecting them. Should, however, the belt be subjected to 'a slight lateral displacement, bringing it into engagement with one of the guide rolls 31, such guide roll, because of its frictionless mounting, will peripherally participate in, the advancing movement of the belt without imposing any friction or wear on the belt edge. The guide roll will, however, under the influence of the belt pressure, move laterally with the belt, thereby swinging the bell crank lever so as to angle the outer end of the training roll toward which the belt is creeping, forwardly or, in other'words, in the direction of travel of the belt. This angling of the training roll will impart a tendency to the belt to resume its normal position. This tendency is augmented by the simultaneous angling of the other training roll in the opposite direction through the medium of the drag link 44, so that if, for instance, the belt has crept toward the right viewing Fig. 1, training roll I I will be moved toward the dotted line position there indicated while the other training roll 9 will besimultaneously moved in the opposite. direction toward the dotted line position shown,

As the belt returns to centered position, it encounters the guide roll of the left hand lever, thus reversely operating the connections to restore the springs, weights, and. other non-positive actuate ing elements, the operation thereof and theresults produced thereby are certain and positive in character. All of the parts with which the belt can contact are frictionless and freely rotatable so that no frictional resistance to, or wear upon, the belt can be produced.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiment thereof herein shown and described, and that features of the invention may be used in different combinations and structures embodying such combinations. The illustrative idler may be variously modified in details of construction and arrangement to suit different requirements and conditions. The invention is not intended to be limited to a construction in which the roller support for the traveling belt includes only one or any intermediate stationarily mounted roll in association with the training rolls. 1

In the following claims, the expression ",independently movably mounted-with reference to the training rolls and outer end supports therefor is to be understood as signifying that said rolls or supports are independently mounted movably;

or individually movably mounted, as distin guished from a construction having the roll supporting standards carried by and in fixed relation to a supporting structure which as a wholeis 7 adapted to turn on a medial vertical pivot. With the illustrative structure, the training rolls are skewed individually in unison for the training of the belt, in contra-distinction to the swinging of an entire supporting structure carrying the rolls. The movable supports specifically shown arethe independently pivotally mounted standards l4 and I5, which exemplify independently movably mounted supports in the restricted sense above indicated, though they are not left free for independent movement, being operatively. connected by the link 44 and bell-crank levers 36 to tilt in unison in opposite directions.

We claim: I

l. A self-training idler comprising a pair of spaced apart movably mounted supports, belt supporting and training means disposed between said supports and having the ends thereof carried by said supports, means including a pair of connected levers arranged longitudinally of the belt and associated with said supports for moving said supports simultaneously in opposite directions under the influence of the supported belt to thereby angle both ends of said supporting and training means relatively to said belt, and rollers carried by said levers normally spaced from but engageable by opposite edges of the belt for operating said levers.

2. A self-training idler comprising belt sup porting and training means, a pair of pivotally mounted standards by which the outer ends of said means are carried, a pair of levers respectively connected to the respective standards, said levers being mounted uponv fixed'fulcrums, guide rolls carried by said levers engageable by the edges of the belt, and a link connecting said levers. j

3. A self-training idler comprising a stationary roll, a plurality of training rolls, and means including a guide member in proximity to the path of travel of the belt to be guided for angling said training rolls simultaneously in opposite directions with respect to said stationary roll.

4. A self-training idler comprising a plurality of training rolls stationarily mounted at their inner ends and movably mounted at their outer ends, a lever operatively connected with the outer end of each roll, a connection between said levers, and means carried by said levers in proximity to the normal path of travel of the belt to be guided whereby said levers are actuated, upon displacement of said belt, to move the outer ends of said rolls in opposite directions relatively to'their stationary inner ends.

5. A self-training idler comprising a plurality of training rolls, stationary supports for the inner ends of said rolls, movable supports for the outer ends of said rolls, a lever operatively associated with each movable support, an antifrictionally mounted roll carried by each lever in proximity to the normal path of travel of the belt to be guided, and a link connecting said levers, whereby displacement of said belt will actuate said levers to move the outer ends of said training rolls simultaneously in opposite directions.

6. A self-training idler comprising a stationary roll, a plurality of training rolls, a pivoted support for the outer end of each training roll, a lever operatively connected to each of said supports, an antifrictionally mounted roll carried by each lever in position to be engaged by the. belt to be guided when laterally displaced, and means for causing said levers to operate in unison under the influence of said belt to thereby rock said supports in opposite directions.

7 A self-training'idler comprising a stationary roll, a pair of training rolls stationarily mounted at their inner ends, a movable support for the outer end of each training roll, guide rolls positioned in proximity to the normal path of travel of the belt to be guided, and means rendered operable by displacement of said guide rolls under the influence of said belt for moving said supports in opposite directions to thereby angle said training rolls. v

8. A self-training idler comprising a stationary roll, a pair of training rolls, all of said rolls being freely rotatable, a movable support for the outer end of each training roll, a pair of rolls positioned in proximity to the edges of a normally traveling belt, means operable by said last-mentioned rolls for moving said supports under the influence of said belt, and means whereby belt induced movement of one training roll is transmitted to the other training roll in a reverse direction.

9. A self-training idler comprising a stationarily mounted supporting roll, a plurality of training rolls stationarily mounted at their inner ends, a movable support for the outer end of each training roll, a lever operatively connected with each support, a guiding roll carried by each lever, and an adjustable link connecting said levers.

10. A self-training idler comprising a stationarily mounted supporting roll, a plurality of training rolls stationarily mounted at their inner ends, a movable support for the outer end of each training roll, means for positively limiting the movements of said supports, a lever operatively connected with each support, a guiding roll carried by each lever, and an adjustable link connecting said levers.

11. A self-training idler comprising a roller support for a traveling belt, independently movably mounted supports carrying the ends of said roller support, said ends being shiftable forwardly and rearwardly by movement of said movably mounted supports,'a pair 'of levers having fixed fulcrums adjacent to and operatively connected with the'respective supports, said levers arranged at opposite sides of the belt, antifrictionally mounted rollers carried by said levers in proximity to and arranged transversely of the opposite edges of the belt, whereby the lateral shifting of the belt toward either end of said roller support will operate the corresponding lever to shift said end forwardly to train the belt back to centered position, and a connection between said levers whereby the forward shifting of one end of the roller support is accompanied by a rearward shifting of the other end thereof.

12. A self-training idler comprising a rollersupport for a traveling belt, independently mounted tiltable standards supporting the ends of said roller support, said standards being tiltable forwardly and rearwardly from their normal position, and means operated by the belt comprising a pair'of connected levers for operating said standards to tilt them in opposite directions, the

shifting of the belt from centered position toward either end of said roller support operating said means in a manner to shift forwardly said end and to shift rearwardly the other end of said support.

13. A self-training idler comprising a roller support for a traveling belt, independently mounted tiltable standards supporting the ends of said roller support, said standards being tiltable forwardly and rearwardly from their normal position, a pair of levers operatively connected with said standards, rollers carried by said levers engageable by the belt, one of said levers being operable by the belt in shifting tothe right to tilt the right hand standard forwardly, the other of said levers being operable by the belt in shifting to the left to tilt the left hand standard forwardly, and a link connection between said levers whereby the forward tilting of one standard is accompanied by'a rearward tilting of the opposite standard.

14. A self-training idler comprising training rolls for supporting a traveling belt at opposite sides of its longitudinal center, fixed supports for the inner ends of said rolls, independently movablymounted supports for the outer ends of said rolls, the latter supports being movable for shifting said outer ends longitudinally of the belt, said rolls being mounted in their respective supports in a manner permitting them to be swung about their inner end supports in parallelism or approximate parallelism with the portions of the belt traveling on said rolls, and means operable by the belt including a pair of connected levers for moving said supports simultaneously in opposite directions, the shifting of the belt from centered position toward either end of the idler causing operation of said means in a manner to shift the corresponding movable support forwardly.

15. A self-training idler comprising training rolls for supporting a traveling belt at opposite sides of its longitudinal center, fixed supports for the inner ends of said rolls, independently movably mounted supports for the outer ends of said rolls, the latter supports being movable for shifting said outer ends longitudinally of the belt, said rolls being mounted in their respective supports in a manner permitting them to be swung about their inner end supports in parallelism or approximate parallelism with the portions of the belt traveling on said rolls, bell-crank levers having.

arms operatively connected with said movable supports and forwardly extending arms, and

' rollers carried by said forwardly extending arms beside and transversely of the edges of the belt, whereby the shifting of the belt from centered position toward either end'of the idler will operate the corresponding bell-crank lever to move the corresponding support forwardly.

16. A self-training idler having antifrictionally mounted training rolls for supporting a traveling belt at opposite sides of its longitudinal center, said rolls being independently movably mounted to permit them to be skewed, means away from said rolls in guiding relationship with the belt and shiftable by and with the belt as the lattershifts laterally in either direction, said means comprising antifrictionally mounted roller means and being contactable by the belt without imposition of appreciable frictional drag, and shiftable devices for the respective training rolls operatively connected for shifting in unison in opposite directions, said devices being operable by the lateral shifting of said means, the arrangement being such that the shifting of the belt from centered position causes a skewing of the training rolls in a manner to train the belt back to centered position.

l7. A self-trainingridler having training rolls for supporting a traveling'belt at opposite sides of its longitudinal center, tiltable supporting standards for the outer ends of said rolls, said standards beingindependently pivotally mounted below the roll axes for tilting movement transversely of said axes, the rolls being supported by said standards and at their inner ends in a manner permitting them to be skewed by the tilting of said standards, means connecting said standards whereby movement of either standard is transmitted to the other in a reverse direction, so that under the action of the traveling belt on the two training rolls the standards are normally maintained in erect position, and means whereby said standards are controlled by the belt to tilt in response to lateral shifting of the belt from centered position, the standard for the outer roll end toward which the belt shifts being tilted forwardly.

18. A self-training idler having training rolls for supporting a traveling belt at opposite sides of its longitudinal center, tiltable supporting standards for the outer ends of said rolls, said standards being independently pivotally mounted below the roll axes for tilting movement transversely of said axes, the rolls being supported by said standards and at their inner ends in a manner permitting them to'be skewed by the tilting of said standards, devices connected with g the respective standards and respectively operable by the belt for tilting said standards forwardly, each device being operated upon lateral displacement of the belt from centered position in a direction toward the corresponding outer roll end, and connecting means whereby operation of either of said devices causes a reverse operation of the other and backward tilting of the standard associated therewith.

19. A self-training idler having training rolls for supporting a traveling belt at opposite sides of its longitudinal center, tiltable supporting standards for the outer ends of said rolls, said standards being independently pivotally mounted below the roll axes for tilting movement transversely of said axes, the rolls being supported by said standards and at their inner ends in a manner permitting them to be skewedby the tilting of said standards, and operative connections by which said standards are movable in unison in opposite directions, said connections being operable by lateral shift of the belt in either direction and being arranged to tilt forwardly the standard for the outer roll end toward which the belt shifts.

20. A self-training idler having training rolls for supporting a traveling belt at opposite sides of its longitudinal center, tiltable supporting standards for the outer ends of said rolls, said standards being independently'pivotally mounted below the roll axes for'tilting movement trans: versely of said axes, the rolls being supported by said standards and at their inner ends in a manner permitting them to be skewed by the tilting of said standards, and means comprising a pair of connected levers by which said standards are operatively connected to tilt in unison in opposite directions, said levers being arranged in association with the belt and operable by lateral shift of the belt in either direction.

REUEL CLEM SOLLENBERGER. LEE 0. CARROLL. 

